Modern Gable-Style Homes
See how pitched roofs and overhangs can be simple, innovative and modern, too
At its root, modern architecture is a break from the past, and in terms of the roof, that break is most explicit. Pitched roofs that traditionally serve to shed rain and snow are commonly eschewed in modernism for flat roofs, which sometimes serve as terraces for reclaiming the land the building occupies.
But modern architecture is not exclusively flat roofs. Pitched roofs of various types can follow from the simplicity and innovation that drives the modern style — inspired by the vernacular but also modernist pioneers like Gunnar Asplund, who worked in a context where flat roofs were untenable. This ideabook focuses on gables and what makes them modern and different than traditional ones.
Browse modern home exteriors | Find an architect
But modern architecture is not exclusively flat roofs. Pitched roofs of various types can follow from the simplicity and innovation that drives the modern style — inspired by the vernacular but also modernist pioneers like Gunnar Asplund, who worked in a context where flat roofs were untenable. This ideabook focuses on gables and what makes them modern and different than traditional ones.
Browse modern home exteriors | Find an architect
The gable in this house is clearly unique in the way the second floor projects beyond the first floor at one end, creating a covered patio in the process. Gray predominates in the exterior's roof and walls, but the gable end is made more distinct by being filled with wood boards.
A similar projection happens in this two-story house, but here it extends down to the first floor and works with the canopy to demarcate the entrance. Wraparound windows take advantage of the slight projection.
The prominent gable on this house in Maine sits above a screened-in porch. The tapering horizontal slots create some interesting lighting in the open space and also help to ventilate it.
The garage for the same house in Maine also features a gable top, an almost platonic prism that seems to float above the stone walls and wood columns below. The simplicity of the roof and wall materials above, as well as the sharpness of the edges, make it particularly modern.
The flared gable for this poolhouse appears to be a progression of three scenarios from back to front: enclosed with shingles, semi-enclosed with shingles, and then open rafters at the patio. This progression makes it appear as though the gable is deconstructed from one end to the other.
At first glance this residence looks traditional, and for the most part it is, but the gable end has modern touches: the horizontal banding at the base of the first floor and top of the second floor, the asymmetry of the first floor window, and the carved corner entrance. Note how the last is also highlighted by a tree-trunk column.
This gable end follows the rest of the house in being wrapped in corrugated metal. A large opening to inside belies the semi-industrial nature of this small house.
The large openings of this gable end seem to contrast with the traditional form and skin. The first-floor windows give a glimpse into the large living area inside.
This gable end is a floor-to-roof glass wall that sits behind a chimney; the latter punctures the roof extension, a move that necessitates the addition of steel-tube columns to the side.
The end of this house also includes a chimney in front of the gable, but here the roof is notched around the circular flue.
The architect of this house labels it "Modern Shingle Style I," a moniker that seems fitting with the Siamese gables over the long front porch.
"Flattened gable" is an appropriate description for the end of this house. The low profile is accentuated by the solid wood infill at the end, a continuation of the wall below, but it's an expression that reads as a triangle with the notched porch and horizontal window below.
From a distance the various parts of this house take on an exaggerated appearance: the large glass wall at the gable end, the small random openings around the corner, the roof extension overhead, and the canopy that extends from the roof and overlaps with the perpendicular volume. See a closer look next.
This view reveals how the "+" shaped house is rendered in two ways that bring the gable vernacular into the contemporary. This white side, described in the previous photo, is contrasted with the dark metal panels that wrap the walls and roof, and the regular grid of windows that gives a strong logic to the other volume.
More: Updates of Classic Roof Styles
More: Updates of Classic Roof Styles